His father, Lawrence, had the blood disorder AT3 but doctors
failed to screen for it. He and his wife, Debbie, say they would
have conceived with donor sperm or terminated the pregnancy had
they known.

The High Court has already held doctors liable for a mother
becoming pregnant against her wishes and for negligence during the
delivery of a child.

But the "wrongful life" claims involved comparing a life with no
life and asking whether someone born with a disability would be
better off not being born. In the age of genetic testing, it was a
step the court refused to take.

Justice Susan Crennan, who wrote the lead judgement, said
comparing a life with non-existence to prove damage was impossible.
She said it would be "odious and repugnant to devalue the life of a
disabled person by suggesting that such a person would have been
better off not to have been born into a life with
disabilities".

Alexia's disabilities were only "only one aspect" of her
humanity. "A seriously disabled person can find life rewarding,"
she said. The action raised the question of whether to recognise "a
right of foetus to be aborted" when doctors already had a duty of
care to the mother. "Life with disabilities, like life, is not
actionable," she said.

The Australian Medical Association said a long-term care scheme
was needed.